1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the production of a biosensor for the measurement of glucose and fructose concentrations by means of whole cell enzymes of a microorganism.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for the production of a biosensor, which comprises treating cells of Zymomonas mobilis with an organic solvent and immobilizing the whole cells onto an immobilizing support selected from the group consisting of gelatin, collagen, agarose, cellophane and polyacrylamide to give immobilized whole cell enzyme membranes and then adhering the membranes to the surface of a pH electrode.
The biosensor according to the present invention is valuable for use in determining glucose and fructose concentrations up to 5 g/L and 50 g/L, respectively.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, a number of biosensors for the measurement of glucose concentration has been developed. Most of these biosensors employ either an oxygen electrode or ion-selective electrode as the electrode.
However, the conventional biosensors have not been widely used because when purified enzymes are used, their stability is not satisfactory. On the other hand, when immobilized whole cells are used, their selectivity and reaction response are lower than when the purified enzymes are used. Further, the conventional biosensors have a limitation on measurement ranges and suffer from the disadvantage that it is not capable of determining high concentrations of the sample in a direct manner.